A Beautiful Lie
by Moerighan
Summary: This story adds another character into the mix of KOTOR II: The Sith Lords, what if there had been another survivor on Peragus and how does her story intertwine with the Exile's? Read on to find out.
1. Discovery

Authors note: This story adds another character into the mix of KOTOR II: The Sith Lords, what if there _had _been another survivor on Peragus and how does her story intertwine with the Exile's? Read on to find out. Don't forget to review and let me know what you think.

**OO**

"Miss? Hey there, are you ok?"

Maya's head pounded, the words were like a pike to her skull. She groaned and rolled over, immediately regretting it. She opened her eyes and blinked, taking a couple of seconds to try and focus on the person above her.

"What happened? Where am I?"

Her voice was thick and her throat felt on fire at every word.

"Hush now," the voice soothed, "Don't try to speak, there has been… an accident."

"An…accident?"

The room seemed to come into focus and an overwhelming sickness took her as she remembered what happened.

_People choking, gasping for air…_

_The acrid smell of the poison the vents released into the room…_

_Her vision blurring as those around her dropped to the floor…_

_The deadness in their eyes, haunting her thoughts…_

She had not realised she had been hyperventilating, a hand offered her water and she took it, drinking greedily, trying to remove the foul taste from her mouth.

"Slow down, you'll make yourself sick."

She took a proper look at the stranger for the first time. It was a man, fey green eyes in a kind face that at that very moment was creased in concern. Scruffy brown hair fell to his shoulders, a spatter of stubble around a strong chin and jaw, accenting a small pert mouth. He was not young, but he wasn't old either, mid thirties if she had to guess.

There was something about him that felt so familiar…so comforting…so that even after everything that had happened recently she found herself immediately trusting him.

"Atton, I've discovered a survivor and I've cleared out the dorms."

"You're joking, from the gas levels that were in that room no one should have survived."

"Well I have the proof right in front of me."

He turned to her and smiled reassuringly,

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you."

She had taken a moment to look around her whilst he was talking; she found that she felt nothing. She had only been at the facility for a month before the droids had malfunctioned and her stay had not been a pleasant one.

"Do you think you will be ok to walk?"

She stood, her legs felt a little weak but other than that she seemed to be recovering quickly. She nodded and took a few steps, testing her bearings before turning to face him.

"My name is Gideon."

"Maya."

His face crinkled into a warm smile,

"I'm pleased to meet you Maya."

"Ah, could you hurry up please?" the comm crackled, "The crone is looking at me funny and I really don't want to be stuck on this druk of a planet any longer."

Gideon smiled and shook his head, "Let's go then."

Without another word Maya followed him through the deserted facility, destroyed mining droids sparked around her and she realised he must have come through and cleared the area before returning to the dormitories. They came to the last room before the turbolift that would take them up to the Communications Blister. Three bodies awaited them and she recognised them all.

Coorta and his thugs.

So the bastard was dead, she only regretted that it had not been herself to carry out the act.

Gideon played back the holovid containing their last moments, there was definitely no denying they had deserved their fate.

She knew she revelled in seeing him die slowly and painfully and it disturbed her, she thought she had left behind such feelings long ago.

She didn't want to think about it.

"It's you isn't it?" she asked as her companion unlocked the elevator doors, "You're the Jedi aren't you? The one that came in on the smuggler's ship…"

As she said the words she realised why he had seemed so familiar, so reassuring.

Maya's thoughts raced.

_The General!_

_Exile!_

_The only Jedi to return to the Council and receive punishment for going off to war!_

He must never know who she was, who she had been. Just when she finally thought she had left her past behind…

"I have felt a disturbance, our enemy is here."

The raspy voice of an old woman caused her to look up, she bit the inside of her cheek to stop the grunt as the flow of the force sang through her. She tried to block it out, to push it away, to ignore the whispers in her mind. She would have to be on her guard, the woman looked old but Maya could feel her power.

"Who is this?" A scruffy, dark haired man with deep black eyes joined them as they entered the Comm Room.

"Maya, Atton – Atton, Maya, now we really need to-"

Blaster fire scorched the wall beside them, a droid tutted at them.

"Not this guy again," Gideon sighed as the HK approached.

"Threat: Master, perhaps I did not enunciate clearly the last time we spoke. I suggested that you should shut down, stay put and wait for rescue."

The voice was the one from the holovids in the admin area, she wasn't surprised. This one droid had caused the shutdown of the whole facility.

It fired again, startling her, a mild electrical force erupted from her fingers short circuiting the droid.

The others stared at her.

"_Frak, so much for laying low." _

Zz'what in space is going on?" Atton scowled, "Another Jedi? What, did you guys start breeding when I wasn't looking?"

"It makes sense," Gideon mused, "A normal person would never have survived the gassing of the dorms as is evident, but someone with training in the force could shut down and preserve their bodies for a time-"

"Can we talk about this later?" Maya interrupted,

"I believe the girl is correct, standing idle only brings our enemy closer."

The old woman, Kreia gave Maya the creeps, but as long as they weren't focused on her she was happy.

There had been stealthed stowaways aboard the Rebulic ship, attacking them at every corner. She had no weapon so stood behind whilst the Jedi and Atton fought off their attackers. A coldness constantly prickled her back and she felt they were being watched.

A chill ran through her bones and she shivered though her body was hot. The doors behind them opened and a vile creature descended upon them. His skin was black and cracked, as though he had been through fire and lived, one milky white eye stood out of his face, threatening to fall out. The remaining eye glowed as red as the lightsaber he held.

"_Sith!"_

Kreia yelled at them to get to the ship before closing the blast doors in their faces.

"Crazy old bat," muttered Atton as they ran.

Maya was terrified, the day could not get any worse.

"Are you insane?" Maya gasped as Gideon opened the maintenance tunnel to the fuel lines,

"You want us to cross back through the fuel lines filled with a highly flammable substance that could blow up at the slightest spark?"

"I guess we'd better not surprise you then," He smiled, she was not amused.

"Fine, but if I survive being gassed and shot at by droids only to die escaping I shall _not_ be happy."

Suddenly Gideon doubled over seemingly in pain.

"Are you alright? What's happening?" Atton asked concerned.

"My hand…it felt like it had been dipped into molten carbon, I think something has happened to Kreia."

"That can't be good."

"Suddenly those fuel lines aren't looking so bad after all, are they?"

They crossed quickly, the fumes a constant reminder of the ever present danger.

"Beep boo beep!"

"Not another droid," the girl moaned.

"It's ok, he helped us get out of this mess, we owe him a lot."

They managed to make it to the Ebon Hawk but stealthed Sith had followed them.

"Someone get on the turrets while I punch in the Telos coordinates,"

Atton took to the pilot seat straight away and seemed to know what he was doing. Maya volunteered for the job and took great pleasure in blasting the Sith warriors to smithereens. She jerked on the controls as they took off, spraying fire onto a small asteroid and causing a change reaction that blew the mining planet apart.

She felt nothing as she watched Peragus burn.

As they jumped into hyperspace she returned to the others, not liking the conversation she stepped in on.

"The Sith believe you to be the last of the Jedi," Kreia said the Gideon, "Though we now know this not to be true."

They all looked at her and she scowled.

"So how _is _it that a Jedi came to be working on a dwang of a planet like Peragus?" asked Atton.

"How did you come to be in a cage on that dwang of a planet?" she fired back, he stayed silent.

"The day you reveal your secret, I'll reveal mine, until then I have nothing to say."

She turned to Gideon,

"I thank you for saving me but I think it best if we part ways on Telos."

She lowered her voice and her eyes.

"I am not a Jedi, as you are not."

Realisation dawned in his eyes,

"If that is what you wish…"

She nodded and left without another word.


	2. Pure Pazaak

_BOOM!_

_A sonic grenade exploded above her head through the open roof._

"_Jace! Benon!'_

_The voice of the General carried over the noise of blaster fire._

_When she met him he had looked so young, but now…_

_It seemed as though he had aged ten years in the three months they had been on Dxun. _

_He motioned to her Captains using signals to convey what he wanted. Without a word they erupted from the burnt out building, lightsabers blazing. Blue, yellow, green, all flashing in the late afternoon alongside his vibrant orange. Force powers flew all around her, lightning flashing past her._

_The thrill of battle bubbled in her chest as she cut down the Mandalorians, dancing gracefully between each enemy. In the end bodies littered the forest floor around them, even fifty Mandalorians were no match for ten Jedi._

_But was she really?_

_Even then she had felt it pulling her, the call of the Dark Side._

_She was only young then, a rebellious teenager, she felt invincible._

_She felt…_

…Wide Awake.

It took her a minute to realise she was staring at the ceiling of the dingy hotel apartment she was renting. The girl sighed and stood, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror above the broken bathroom sink. No wonder Gideon didn't recognise her.

It had been seven years.

Maya Pierce, sixteen years old, short blond hair, grey eyes and the over confident attitude of a cocky teenager.

But now…

She had let her hair grow out past her shoulders, it had matted to her head with sweat and grown dull from neglect. Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles and she had a slight grey tinge to her skin.

She looked like death, she felt like death, but at least people would be more inclined to stay away from her if they thought she had some sort of disease. She sighed again and got dressed running her fingers through her hair and trying to get some semblance of cleanliness. She would need credits if she was ever going to buy passage off this hole of a planet. After Peragus Telos would die, and she did not want to be there when it happened.

ooOOooOOoo

Maya scooped the credits toward herself whilst grinning at her opponent,

"I thank you for your patronage good sir," she said as he stood, knocking over his chair.

"Cleaned me out, stoopa schutta!" he grumbled, walking away.

She let the insult slide, reading the surface thoughts of fat slobs like him was too easy, and she would win hands down every time. She might have gone easy on him, except for the fact that he had spiked her drink (which she hadn't touched) and the thoughts of the things he was going to do to her when she couldn't resist.

She looked up from her counting as the chair scrapped the floor and a man sat heavily, putting his boots on the table.

It was Atton.

"You look like shit."

"What do you want," she grumbled looking away.

"Now, now Princess, no need to get mopey."

He had taken to calling her that on the journey to Telos, and once he knew how much it irritated her continued to do so.

"Shouldn't you be off trying to save a dying planet?" She asked tiredly.

Once they had been freed from house arrest Gideon had jaunted off to help some Ithorians, always the bleeding heart.

"Been there, done that. Gideon and the old witch are off doing some Jedi voodoo or something and I got bored."

"So you thought you'd come bug me?"

"Hey I just happened to be going for a drink and you just happened to be here."

She glared,

"Whatever."

"You're cute when you're angry."

She chose to ignore him and continue counting.

"Quite a haul you've got there," he mused, removing his feet from the table and leaning toward her.

"Hows out you and I make a little wager? If you win, you can have all the credits I own."

He opened his pockets and emptied three hundred credits onto the table.

She was tempted.

That amount added to what she already had could easily buy her a ticket _and _a place to stay for a week…

But she didn't like the glint in his eye.

"And if I lose?"

He smirked and leaned closer.

"You have to kiss me, and no lame little peck either full smackaroo o the lips."

As he let that sentence sink in he added, "Oh and you have to come with us when we leave Telos."

She looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"And why the hell would you want that? I seem to recall you weren't so keen on me when you found out what I was back on Peragus."

"Because between Gideon and the Hag I'd have no one to entertain me on the long trips to god knows where, I'd die of boredom and they'd probably crash into an asteroid or something."

"You can't be serious…"

"Deadly."

She looked at the credits on the table then back to his smirking face, oh how she wished to slap that silly grin right off it.

"Fine!" She growled with more confidence then she felt, "Bring it on Fly Boy."

ooOOooOO

"_+3, +3 please be a +3!"_

Reading Atton's thoughts was hard, it was as though he had built up a resistance to the force tricks so she had to rely on skill alone. It had been a close game so far but all she needed was a +3 to win with two cards left. She turned her card over and-

+2.

"Damn it!"

Atton just smiled lazily as he thumbed his cards, she could still win if he didn't have a five.

"Let me ask you a question…"

"Really? Right now?"

He ignored her protests, "Why are you so eager to get away from Gideon? I mean, I would have thought you'd be thrilled to find another Jedi alive."

"Would you keep your voice down?" she growled, "If you haven't heard, there is still a bounty out on certain people and I'd rather not be one of them!"

She waited for him to continue, but clearly he was not going to play on until she answered. She sighed in frustration.

"I don't want to be near him because I don't want to be reminded of that life, the time of the Jedi is over, I'm just trying to survive."

"Reminded? So you fought with him on Dxun?"

"Atton…If you don't play on I am going to hold you down in that chair and snap each and every one of your fingers as slowly and as painfully as possible…"

"Alright babe, you win."

He flipped his card and turned it to face her.

+5.

"And so do I."

"_Damn it!"_


End file.
